Goodbye, Crimson

By: Lauren Hince

Effective next year, the school’s yearbook, Crimson, no longer will be funded. On March 30, the Ripon College Student Senate passed Crimson’s budget, totaling $0.
Dating back to 1868, according to Ripon College Archivist Andy Prellwitz, Crimson is one of Ripon’s oldest traditions.

“This is a disappointing development for Yearbook for next year,” Jaye Alderson, faculty advisor to Crimson says. “Yearbook provides great opportunities for students in writing, layout, photography and leadership. But also vitally important is the historical aspect of the publication, both for alumni and for the College itself.”

Rachel Kolodziej, current editor-in-chief of Crimson, explains that she initially joined Crimson because she worked on the yearbook in high school. However, this year has been difficult as Kolodziej is the only staff member for Crimson.

“As of right now, (Crimson) will not be through Jostens, which means that there will not be a yearbook,” she says. “Since I was the only one on the staff and am deciding not to continue, there is no one, as of right now, to take my place as editor-in-chief.”

The decision to cut Crimson’s budget fell entirely to Kolodziej, who adds that she chose to not show up to budget hearings: “The position I was given was handed to me without proper instruction of what actually needs to be done. I would not wish the same for anyone else to go through what I had to in order to keep people happy.”

There is still hope for Crimson. Those interested in being part of the school yearbook can contact Jaye Alderson at aldersonj@ripon.edu. Also, Jayme Bogner, the Jostens representative for Ripon College, is eager to meet any interested students and get training started for next year. He can be contacted at jayme.bogner@jostens.com.